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Evaluation of partial nitrification efficiency as a response to cadmium concentration and microplastic polyvinylchloride abundance during landfill leachate treatment
Summary
PVC microplastics and cadmium individually inhibited the bacterial process of ammonia oxidation in wastewater, but in combination at certain concentrations, the PVC particles appeared to partially protect the bacteria. Understanding how microplastics interact with wastewater treatment processes is important because they affect how well sewage plants remove pollutants.
The partial nitrification efficiency response to the presence of cadmium (Cd) and microplastics was investigated. Microplastics polyvinylchloride (PVC) abundance was 0-10,000 particles/L, and Cd concentration was 0-10 mg/L. Cd-only inhibited the NH-N oxidation rate 1.21, 1.23, and 1.18 times with concentrations at 1, 5, and 10 mg/L, respectively. PVC-only inhibited NH-N oxidation rate 1.01, 1.21 and 1.05 times with PVC abundance at 1000, 5000 and 10,000 particles/L, respectively. The ammonia oxidation rate was improved with the co-existence of PVC and Cd at the conditions PVC1000 and PVC5000, which could be attributed to the PVC. PVC at 1000 particles/L could act as carrier and mitigate the negative effect of Cd to the partial nitrification process. Moreover, the partial nitrification process was largely inhibited with PVC abundance at 10,000 particles/L. First-order kinetic models could simulate the NH-N, NON, and NO-N changes in the partial nitrification process.
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